Toy cannon.



J. DITTRICK'.

TOY CANNON.

'APPLICATION FILED OCT. 8. i917.

J. D'iTTRICK.

I TOY CANNON. APPLICATION FILED OCT- 8. 1917.

Patented Oct. 22, 1918'.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

unrrnn srarns earner orrron.

- JOHN DITTRIGK, OF ELIVISLEY TOWNSHIP, ONTARIO, CANADA.

TOY CANNON.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN DITTRICK, of the township of Elmsley, Province. of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented new and useful Improvements in Toy Cannon, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in toy cannons, and the objects of the invention are to provide an attractive toy of simple construction, in which the mechanical parts are not liable to go out of repair, to so inclose the working parts that the user is not liable to have his fingers caught therein, to permit of the several parts of the mecha nism being automatically reset so that rapid loading and firing is readily accomplished.

Further objects are to permit of the toy being constructed in such a manner that it is not liable to skid or side slip during the operation of firing and so impair the aim of the operator, and generally to adapt the sev-' eral parts to better perform the functions required of them.

WVith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists essentially of the improved construction and novel arrangement of parts particularly described and set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings forming part of the same.

In the drawings:

Figure '1' is a perspective proved toy cannon.

F'g. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same.

' Fig. 3 is a plan view with the cover re moved showing the mechanism of the cannon.

Fig. 4 is a perspective detail of thepawl or trigger showing an alternative method of controlling the upward motion. of the same. Like characters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

Referring to the drawings, A represents view of the imthe improved cannon comprising the car' riagelO which consists of' aflat plate of suitable material provided with axles 11 adjacent to the front and rear ends thereof, on which axles the wheels 12 are rotatably mounted. 1

These wheels are provided with a caterpillar tread formed by corrugated bands '13 of iron forming tires for the wheels, so that side slipping or skidding of the cannon is not likely to take place when it is being operated. Toward the front-and rear ends of the carriage, end walls 14 and 15 are located. the former'of which carries a guide blecl; 16

v Specification of Letters Patent. Pate ted 1 22 191S i Application filed October 8,

1917. Serial No. 195,418.

having an orifice 17 through the longitudinal axis thereof and arranged in alinement with the bore of the barrel 18 which is provided on the inner end with a collar 19 having a peripheral slot 20 by means of which shot can be quickly delivered to the orifice 21in the said barrel.

Above the guide block 16 a stop-member 22 is located for an object which will be made clear hereafter. The end wall 15 carries a guide block 23 having an orifice 26L therethrough which registers with the orifice 25 in the said end wall, and above this guide block a stop member 26 is located above which the guide 27 is mounted.

The orifices 24 and 25 are in alinement with the orifice 17 of the guide block 16 and a reciprocating plunger 28 is slidably mounted between the front and rear walls and is supported in the said orifices.

The body of the plunger is substantially rectangular in cross section with a recess 29 in the upper edge, the said recess having its front wall angularly disposed, while the rear wallis vertical and adapted to engage with the pawl or trigger -30 pivotally mounted to the lever 31, the lower end of which is bifurcated and embraces the plunger and is pivoted to the carriage 10.

By reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings,it will be seen that the lower end of the lever 31 passes through the orifice 32 in the car riage and is secured in position by the hinge pin 33.

The front and rear ends of the plunger 28 are reduced and formed cylindrically as shown at 34 and 35, so that they slidably engage with the sleeve 1'7" in the orifices 17 of the block16 and the orifices 24 and 25 in the block 23 and the rear wallv l5 -respectively. l It will be seen that by forming the lever 31 with. a bifurcated end, there is no possibility of the plunger 28 rotating on its longitudinal. axis, so that the pawl 30 will always co-act with the recess 28 in the said plunger. The plunger 28 is designed to be held normally in a forward position by means of the spring 36 which passes through the orifice '37 in the plunger andis anchored at both ends to the front wall 14:- of the carriage.

WVhen the plunger 28 is being retracted by means of the lever 31 and pawl 30 co-acting with the recess '29, it is essential that the pawl should become disengaged from the plunger when the same has reached its extreme inward-position and to facilitate eb taining this result, I provide a member 38 which is secured to the angular wall of the recess on which member the pawl rides so that it will be moved upwardly as the plunger reaches the end of its stroke, so liberatingthe plunger and permitting of its being returned to its normal position under the action of the spring 36.

The working parts of the cannon are inclosed by a cover 39 which is provided with a a slot 4.0 in the top thereof through which trolling means shown in Flg. 4, a spring 46 is attached to the lever and co-acts with the upper face of the pawl so preventing any liability of the said pawl being forced upwardly when the cannon is being quickly operated, and this is extremely liable to happen after the pawl becomes disengaged from the recess 29. r

It will be understood that this spring replaces the guide 27 which is adapted to prevent this vertical displacement of the pawl in that form of the invention first described.

The assembly of the cannon will be readily understood from the foregoing description.

. through the slot into the orifice 21 and rests on the cylindrical end 34: of the plunger 28. The operator now grips the lever 31 and pulls the same backwardly whereupon the pawl 30 engages the vertical wall of the recess 29 and so forces the plunger 28 backwardly against the action of the spring 36.

As the plunger reaches its extreme rearward position the pawl 30 co-acting with the member 38 is forced upwardly and dis engaged from the rear wall of the recess 29 so that the plunger is projected'rapidly to its normal position under the action of the spring, producing in. doing soa noise similar to the report of a gun.

WVhen the plunger is in its rearward position, the. shot in the orifice 21 falls into the bore of the barrel 18in front of the plunger, and on the plunger returning to its normalposition the shot is projected forwardly with considerable force.

The rearward action of the lever 31 is Copies of this patent may be obtained {501' When the cannon is in use the shot is fed limited by the pawl 30 engaging with the stop member 26 and the upward motion of the pawl is limited by the member 27 located above the said stop.

The forward motion of the lever is also limited by the stop member 22.

When that form of the pawl controlling means shown in Fig. 4 is'used, the member 27 is dispensed with, and the upward motion of the pawl is prevented by'the spring co-acting therewith. r

From this description it will be seen that I have invented a toy cannon of simple con struction, not liable to go out of repair,.and in which the several working parts are so inclosed that the operator-is protectedduring the operating of the cannon.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of my invention within the scope of the claims, constructed withoutdeparting from the spirit or scopethereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above specification and accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is;

1. A toy cannon comprising a carriage, wheels on the front and rear of the carrlage,

a barrel on the frontof the carriage, a slidably mounted plunger resilient means controlling .the forward motion of the plunger, a lever, means carried by the lever coacting with the plunger and controlling the rearward motion of the same, and means for limiting the movement of thelever.

2. A toy cannon comprising a carriage, wheels on the front and rear of the car: riage, provided with a caterpillar tread, front and rear walls on the carriage having orifices throughout, a barrel on -the front of the carriage having a bore registering with the orifices through the front wall, guide blocks on thefront and rear walls, stop members located on the said guide blocks, a plunger having cylindrical ends engaging with the bore of'the barrel and the orifices in the front and rear wall and guide blocks, and provided with a recess in the upper edge having a vertical wall and an angularly disposed wall, a member mounted on the angularly disposed wall, a lever pivotally mounted to the carriage, a pawl pivotally mounted to the lever adapted to coact with the member inthe recess and the said recess, and resilient means controlling therforward movement of the plunger.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set five cents each, by ,afl ressing the Qonuhissieaer c; gatents,

Washington, D. G. 

